Our hand sanitizers were featured on the NY times article, "The 10 Very Best Hand Sanitizers" and the LA Times article, "LA Hand Sanitizers".
The World Health Organization is saying one of the main things that you can do to protect yourself and your family is to wash your hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand rub to kill viruses that may be on your hands*
This DIY recipe can be made at home with ingredients you might already have! This is the exact recipe that we use for our hand sanitizers.
Let's get started :)
Ingredients needed for a 10 oz bottle:
- Small container with a dispenser
- 7oz 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
- 1.5oz Witch Hazel
- 1oz Distilled water
- .25oz Glycerin
- a few drops of Fragrance (optional)
Mix all these ingredients together and [boom], you've got a high strength hand sanitizer without any nonsense ingredients.
If you don't have a scale you can eyeball it- the main thing is the alcohol needs to be at least 60% of the bottle.
Let's talk about substitutions.
99% Alcohol can be substituted for a lower percentage, but the formula will need to change. A 60% or higher alcohol hand sanitizer is the recommended percentage to protect from the COVID-19 Coronavirus. So if you use a 70% isopropyl alcohol you can only dilute the formula by -10% to keep the percentage above 60%. The reason it needs to be diluted is because it will evaporate and leave a white film on the hands. With the other ingredients (especially the witch hazel), the alcohol can be distribute on your hands before it dries up. It also prevents your hands from becoming dry.
Witch Hazel is a natural antiseptic and reduces inflammation. You can substitute this with more water if you don't have any on hand.
Glycerin makes the formula more "slick" so the alcohol can glide on the skin and moisturize before drying. It is sold in drug stores but if you don't have any you can use aloe vera gel instead.
We've been selling hand sanitizers for almost 2 years now. Since this virus, it's been very challenging trying to find these ingredients in stock. When we do, the prices from our suppliers have at least doubled. Our prices however will not go up during this time of need. Thank you for your support and kind words.
If you or someone you know is in need of hand sanitizers in the LA area- we are donating. Please contact us at info@rxcandles.com
Resources:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public